Monday, 31 January 2011

This week over at Jingle Belles we are on Christmas card #5 and we were given a sketch to work from also the colour combo over at CR84FN Colour Challenge is absoloutely stunning and are perfect colours for a Christmas card so I combined the two challenges.
The colours:

The sketch:

The card:

This is one of my favourite colour combo's and when I saw the new colour challenge on Sunday I knew I would use these colours for my Christmas card this week. I used Stampin Up colours,Baja Breeze,Riding Hood Red and Chocolate Chip. I didn't use any patterned paper but made my own snowflake background using Waltzing Mouse Stamps. The frame and 'Let it Snow' is also Waltzing Mouse perfectly designed to die cut with Nestabilities Labels 14, I used SU Scallop Trim Border and Corner Punch for the punched edges.

I'm hoping I will have time to enter a non Chritmas card for this colour challenge too,my crop buddies Libby and Rach are coming over tomorrow to do some crafting so hopefully I'll get some cards and LO's done if we can stop talking long enough.

Friday, 28 January 2011

I can't believe it's Friday and another week is over,where is the time going. Anyway for Christmas,Hubby got me a book voucher as one of my stocking fillers,so on Monday I went into town and bought myself 'Stitch' by Cath Kidston and 'Simple Sewn Gifts' by Helen Phillips with it,they are two beautiful books and even though I probably won't do a lot of the projects they are a great inspiration and very pretty to look at.By chance Week #41's challenge over at City Crafter Challenge Blog is 'Sew Fun' choosen by the lovely Linda who is this week's host. As the title suggests you need to have some sort of stitching or a sewing theme on your project and in my new book 'Simple Sewn Gifts' there is a pretty bird house cross stitch chart so I decided to do that and add it to my card.

I didn't actually use just the one chart,I used the combination of two and changed the colours to what threads I already had. I found a little bird button so added him instead of stitching one and added a variety of buttons for the flowers. The papers are from Cosmo Cricket 'Togetherness' Mini Deck, I used the cloud paper and green gingham to get the effect of a sky and grass background.. I haven't done cross stitch for many years but have really enjoyed stitching this and quite pleased with the outcome. Maybe I'll do a few more stitched cards so thank you Linda for getting me back into cross stitch.After making this card my internet broke so I didn't think I'd be able to enter it into the challenge but after buying a new wireless router and hours on the phone it seems to be working ok.touch wood!!!Have a good weekend,I'm off for a curry tonight with some friends so looking forward to that otherwise a quiet weekend for me,maybe I'll get some more time in my craft room.

Wednesday, 26 January 2011

I've had a busy few days with one thing and another so haven't had any time for crafting or visiting all your lovely blogs. Yesterday,I took Paige for her college interview and even though she has been accepted at another college,this was the college she really wanted to get into. The interview went very well and she was given a place as long as she gets the grades that's needed for the course,needless to say we are very happy for her.
I got chance this afternoon to do a card for this week's colour challenge over at CR84FN Colour Challenge and as usual another fabulous inspiration board with the colours light pink,lavender and kraft.

Here's my card:

I stamped the leaf from the Stampin'Up Going Green stamp set in Pink Pirouette and Perfect Plum overlapping the images and stitched to some kraft card,the DP is from the SU Subtles paper pad. Lastly I added the sentiment and a bow with a cute little flower button attached.
Hopefully I'll have a bit more time over the weekend to do some more cards and LO's,I need to get two men's cards done before Monday and I really struggle with male cards. Better get my thinking cap on !!!!

Monday, 24 January 2011

Happy Monday Everyone !!! It's week #4 over at Jingle Belles and I have made my 4th Christmas card,go me !!!
This week they are doing their first colour challenge and what a fab colour choice,I love these colours together.

All supplies are from Stampin' Up,I matted the holly DP which is from the Christmas Jingle set onto Melon Mambo,distressed the edges and stitched around the edge.I die cut a scallop circle in Pink Pirouette and a circle in Certain Celery with Nesties,I then stamped the circle with En Francais background stamp (a firm favourite) with Crumb Cake Inkpad.
The bauble and sentiment are from the Contempo Christmas stamp set I then added a bow,some Basic Rhinestones and a string of pearls from the Basic Pearls.

Friday, 21 January 2011

I'd been looking at the kits from Pixie Dust Paperie since they first opened in October,thinking how gorgeous they were.I had never ordered from the U.S. before and thought the shipping would be expensive or it would take weeks to get here so always put it off. Well,a couple of weeks before Christmas I went for it and ordered the December kit,and boy was I wrong the shipping was reasonable and it only took a week from ordering to get to me and that was over Christmas,why didn't I order before!!! You certainly get your moneys worth,it's choc-a-bloc with gorgeous goodies.Here's some LO's I've done using the December's kit:

Everything on this page was from the kit except the chipboard bird,I even did a bit of recycling,I used the packaging from the Prima flowers (the doily) and the music paper with twine which was wrapped around the ribbon.

I couldn't sleep last night so after a couple of hours of tossing and turning I got up and did this LO,the papers were from the kit but I wanted it flower heavy,I love Prima flowers and have got lots of them but want to use some up ready to buy the new CHA ones,lol. I won a Prima stamp set at the last Bromsgrove crop so stamped the frame directly onto the paper and added the title. The photo is of me and my glamourous Mom,I had just turned 40 and my Mom had turned 60.

I didn't need to do a lot to this LO as the paper was already gorgeous,I just added one of the Tattered Angels Calling Cards,a scrap of DP and some flowers I made using the ribbon from the kit,I added the crown and pins from my stash.

These photo's were taken at The Severn Valley Railway last summer,so the Tattered Angels Bingo Card that you get in the kit was perfect for this page.

I have done 5 LO's so far with this kit and still have loads left including a full bottle of Tattered Angels Mist,I can't wait to start on my January kit so watch this space.

Have a great weekend,I'm off on a Girls Night Out tonight so that should be fun!

Wednesday, 19 January 2011

It is week #40 over at City Crafter Challenge Blog and this week's challenge is to make your own handmade flowers,Kirsty is the host and has given us this very pretty inspiration photo called 'Flower Show in Jersey City'.

I love using Prima flowers but I get a real satisfaction when I make my own so I really enjoyed doing this week's challenge.

I used my December Pixie Dust kit for this LO and the dies I used to make the flowers are Tim Holtz Tattered Florals and Marianne Creatables.

I don't know if you can see well enough on the photo but I added lace and tulle to the large flower,it looks very pretty in real life especially with the touch of glitter. I also added a Mellisa Frances crown,a Prima swirl and a couple of Maya Road pins.

Tuesday, 18 January 2011

Red,Kraft & Brown,what a wonderful colour combination,that's what CR84FN Colour Challenge have come up with this week and such a gorgeous inspiration board.

The colours just said love to me so I did a romantic feel card with the Eiffel Tower and red roses.

All supplies are from Stampin'Up,I used the Love Letter DP and inked the edges with Crumb Cake and Choc Chip then did some stitching. I die cut the kraft doily with Nellie's Multi Frames and inked the edges,I used the masking techninique,so I stamped the Eiffel Tower from Artistic Etchings set onto scrap paper and cut it out close to the edge. I placed the cut out Eiffel Tower onto the doily and with the En Francais background stamp I stamped onto the doily,when I took the scrap stamped image away I had a blank space to stamp the Eiffel Tower in Choc Chip and the text fitted nicely around it.
The roses were made using the Scallop Border Punch,if you take a 16cm long piece of card and punch all the way along,cut it to 1/2 cm wide and just wind into a circle making a flower shape adhere the end with a dot of glue. I added some pearls,stamped the ARMOUR also from Artistic Etchings and then attached the hardware frame over the stamped image.

Monday, 17 January 2011

It is week #3 over at Jingle Belles,and you have to create a Christmas card using acrylic paint.I would normally just use acrylic paint for painting chipboard so I wanted to do something I hadn't tried before.
Here is what I came up with:

I stamped the French Filligree background stamp with VersaMark Inkpad and embossed with white embossing powder. When the embossing had cooled I painted over the whole image with Adirondak Paint Dabber in Cloudy Blue then with a damp cloth wiped off the paint exposing the white embossed pattern.
The patterned paper is Baja Breeze from the Subtles Patterned Paper Stack which I inked with Crumb Cake and Chocolate Chip Ink.The greeting is from Welcome Christmas stamp set embossed in white,lastly I added the button and a jingle bell to the bow. Everything I used is from Stampin'Up except the Martha Stewart snowflake punch,the paint and bell.
Well that's my 3rd Christmas card of the year done only another 49 to go !!!!

Friday, 14 January 2011

Last Saturday was Bromsgrove Crop and I was really looking forward to getting some LO's done as the month before I was making Christmas cards. It was great to see everyone and catch up,there was lots of talking,laughing and a bit of scrapbooking thrown in.I finished two pages both using sketches.
The first LO I got finished was using a My Mind's Eye Sketch.

As well as the sketch the theme was Winter (what winter mean's to you).I used a photo of my niece at Christmas wearing her Christmas pudding babygrow and hat. She doesn't look very impressed but she looked so darn cute !!!

I got to use my December kit Times Square Twenty 11 from Pixie Dust Paperie,the papers and buttons are Lost & Found,I misted the DP with the Tattered Angels which was also in the kit. I made a flower shape with some brown tulle as an embellishment. I love this kit !!!Libby,Jackie and I all took the new Page Maps 2 book to the crop so we chose one sketch and all did a LO using that sketch.

I used Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934,the frame is from Tattered Angels inked with TH Distress Ink and the alphabet is My Minds Eye Lush. This photo of me makes me laugh,my Gran and Godmother took me to London for the day,my clothes give away I was bought up in the 70's.
Lastly I just wanted to show you these sewing jars I made for Libby and Rach as part of their Christmas present. I saw them in Sew Sunny Homestyle book by Tone Finnanger and thought they would look really pretty in their craft rooms.

They are very easy to make all you need is a Kilner preserving jar where the lid has a removable centre,cut a piece of card the same size as the lid.Cut a larger circle of fabric and sew a row of running stitch close to the edge,lay the fabric over the card and add a layer of cotton wool in between then pull the thread to gather the fabric.Push the fabric covered card under the lid rim. I then glued a piece of coloured card to hide the gathered fabric card. I then made a button & pin tag and attached it with string to the jar.

You still have plenty time to enter this month's challenge over at Scrapbookers Anonymous,all you need to do is use at least 17 buttons on a card or layout,so get those button tins out and give it a go!!!

Thursday, 13 January 2011

Hi everyone,hope your having a good day,I had a spare couple of hours this morning so I did a LO using this week's colour challenge over at CR84FN. Here's the inspiration board:

I rarely scrap photo's of myself but thought I should do this one as it was taken at my 40th Birthday party which was a bit of a milestone. I probably wouldn't have thought of putting these colours together but they really work and look so pretty.

Wednesday, 12 January 2011

I've got time this week to join in with my favourite challenge blogs and one of my faves is City Crafter Challenge Blog. This week's host is the talented Ros who designed this sketch for us to work from.

Monday, 10 January 2011

Happy Monday everyone,everything is back to normal here,Christmas decorations are down,kids are back at uni/school,a tidy house and I'm back in my craft room.
I've now made my second Christmas card of the year and I am enjoying making them knowing I haven't got the stress of making so many in one go. This week the prompt is 'Have Yourself a Merry LITTLE Christmas' so you have to use Inchies or Twinchies (2" squares) on your card.
I knew instantly I was going to use the 2" squares from the Tim Holtz Holiday Pad. I love using squares and stitching on cards giving it that quilted look. I added a holly sprig,bow and a metal greeting.

Saturday, 8 January 2011

I had to make a card for my friends little girl whose birthday it was on Wednesday,I haven't done any crafting over Christmas and have lost my mojo a little bit so I headed over to Cardabilities for a card sketch to give me some inspiration.

Here's their latest sketch #18:

I used Melissa Frances Kitchy Kitchen papers and pink glitter card,the cupcake stamp is from Stampin Up' which I paper pieced together. I added some gems to the glitter icing to give a bit more sparkle!!!

Thursday, 6 January 2011

One of my favourite blogs to visit is Mona Pendletons Cupcake Creations,she really inspires me with her beautiful projects and the gorgeous soft colours she uses. A couple months ago Mona started a colour challenge which was so popular that it now has it's own challenge blog with it's very own design team for even more inspiration!
The new colour challenge blog is called CR84FN Color Challenge and here is this weeks inspiration board and colours.

The base paper is SU So Saffron DSP edged with Antique Linen Distress Ink,I tore a rectangle from the Making Memories shaped DP to make a frame,rolled the edges and inked them with Distress Ink,I then stitched a zig-zag stitch around the torn frame. Underneath the frame I used Graphic 45 Baby 2 Bride collection which is a soft peach DP and tucked a bit of lace to just peek out of the bottom of the frame. The flowers and leaves are from a selection of different Prima ranges.

I really enjoyed doing this LO especially using all those gorgeous flowers and I adore this photo of Paige when she was a few days old.
Thanks for taking the time to look and thank you for all the lovely comments you leave me,I really appreciate it.It took months for Libby to convince me into starting a blog which I started nearly 12 months ago now,but so glad I did.I've made some lovely blog friends and learnt so much from you all so a big thank you to everyone.

Tuesday, 4 January 2011

As I was looking through some blogs this week,I saw a few people had mentioned a new challenge blog called Jingle Belles so I hopped on over to take a look. Every Friday they give you a new prompt to make a Christmas card,what a fantastic idea!!!! You can get your Christmas cards done through the year and not have to panic the nearer you get to Christmas,like I always do,genius!!!

This week's prompt is Something Old,Something New.Here's my first Christmas card of the year:

The Something Old is the MME red snowflake paper which I bought for Christmas 2009,the Santa image is from a tin of vintage style postcards I bought yesterday in the sales which is my Something New. I edged the red paper with gold Viva Decor Metal Gloss Paint to give it a vintage look,and sprayed the doily with Tattered Angel in Sand. I cut the postcard down to size,rounded the corners and edged that with gold gloss paint,to finish it off I added a bow and bell.

Monday, 3 January 2011

Happy New Year to everyone,I hope you all had a great Christmas.I can't believe we are in 2011,the time is just whizzing by !!! The first challenge of 2011 over at Scrapbookers Anonymous is to use at least 17 buttons,if you're anything like me you have got jars of buttons so here's your chance to use some of them up and a chance to win some new stash.
Here's my LO for January:

The idea behind Scrapbookers Anonymous is to use up some of your old stash so I used Cosmo Cricket Be Good from Christmas 2007.I stitched around the blue paper and added the buttons to create a frame.Why not take a look here and see what the other designers have come up with using buttons. Don't forget you can enter cards as well as layouts and have until 30th January.
Hopefully I can get back into my craft room and get some serious crafting done now everything is back to normal with the kids back at Uni/School and Hubby back at work.